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Preach the Message You Were Given

    Billy Graham and Bill Bright Preaching

    If you look at the iconic pictures of these saints above, you will see two very different expressions. This is because these men had two different messages. Billy Graham led crusades to call people to the Lord. His message was mainly repentance and the need for Jesus.

    Bill Bright also led people to Jesus, but his message was calling people to the Lordship of Jesus. He was on a crusade and calling men and women to join him. Neither one was better than the other, nor were they in competition. They both focused on what God called them to and followed that vision intently in friendship with one another.

    Both men loved God very much. I have no doubt that they could have preached each others message with complete perfection, yet there was power when they did what God called them specifically towards. God empowers what He has called you to.

    There are two ramifications of this truth:

    1. Draw from several streams.
    2. Strengthen your message.

    Draw from Several Streams

    Several people love John Piper as the deep Christian thinker. Several love Joel Olsteen as the Christian motivator. Beth Moore for her Christian Bible studies, Francis Chan as the Christian activist, and Bill Johnson as the Christian revivalist. And while each of these people have several thousand people who love their teachings, few of their followers can find something good in all the others. This is a shame.

    While some on this list may have some errors in their theology, it is a greater error to think you don’t have any. I would be surprised if any on this list doesn’t love God with all they know how to love Him. Their messages are different because God has wired them differently and has each of them speaking a different part of His nature. We need each to see a fuller vision of who God is. If we limited ourselves to one stream, we will become uneven in our Christian growth. Imagine the impact we would have on the world if we let our combined messages go out in harmony with one another instead of either isolation or competition.

    Strengthen Your Message

    How did God call you into the kingdom? What was the thing that made you say yes to Jesus? These messages that burn on your heart are the same messages that cause the people around you to burn for God.

    When I was working with college students, I had one guy who came to me saying he had begun questioning his faith. He loved biology, and all of his science classes taught evolution as truth. He accepted Jesus as a youth, but now he questioned how it all could be real.

    This sounds like a great candidate for some Henry Morris, Ken Ham, or Darwin’s Black Box. Let’s pull out some apologetics and show the case for Christian science. However, this is not my message. I may know the material, but this isn’t what I carry. I started meeting with him regularly, showing an interest in him, and got him in fellowship with other believers. My message is God is real and wants to interact with you, therefore I gave him opportunities to connect with His love. Within a couple months, his doubts were gone.

    For some apologetics would have been the right approach. However I must trust that those God puts in my path need the message that I carry. He was in my group and he opened up to me, because God was drawing him to what I carried.

    Share Your Message

    It is important to know what you carry because those around you need it. You are an important part of the body and we need what you have. Find out what stirs your heart; ponder how God is this for you; study the Scripture to find others experiencing God the same way; speak to others about what you are learning.

    I am so concerned that you strengthen your message that I want to invite you to share you message here. If you are interested, let me know in the comments below and I will email you how you can get your message to me. The body of Christ is so diverse, but we are all still part of His body. Let us encourage one another to keep our eyes set on Jesus. Let the Christ in you encourage us to live more fully in the Christ in us.

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    2 thoughts on “Preach the Message You Were Given”

    1. I SO appreciate this post. These are the VERY thoughts that God had been whispering to my heart….that each of us carry a unique facet of His nature, His personality, His message….and that I am called not to copy another in His body, but to be “my” part of the body…to share the message He has given me to share.

      He told me that I am to share a simple but profound message to HEARTS…that everyone is special to God and deeply LOVED.

      I started a FB page (entitled “You Are Loved”) to this effect….to give daily encouragement of how LOVED each person is by God.
      I also started a blog called “Heart to Heart – sharing hope and encouragement from my heart to yours.

      Links:
      http://www.facebook.com/wonderfullyLoved
      http://lovingheart2heart.wordpress.com/
      http://twitter.com/@Jesusreigns

      I finally feel like God has helped me hone the particular “vein” I am called to preach His message….speaking HEART to HEART to individuals. God is a God of HEARTS. The HEART is what I am aiming His Words toward – to speak the uniqueness, the preciousness of each individual to God.

      When people get a true revelation of the LOVE of God for THEM specifically (vs. just “head knowledge”…oh yes, God loves everyone”) …when the love of God becomes truly PERSONAL revelational knowledge to the INDIVIDUAL….it changes everything….it allows them to RECEIVE His LOVE and love Him back, love themselves, and love others as never before!

      Blessings to you! Thank you for your unique contribution and help to the body of Christ. You are IRREPLACEABLE and such a BLESSING!
      Love in Christ,
      Sue

      1. Dear Sue,

        Thank you for your encouragement and adding your experience with this topic. A lot of people have a hard time entering into their heart. You will be ray of hope for people needing this connection. As you look to write more on your blog and other social media, may your message continue to clearer and sharper. I feel your writing will show others how to enter their heart by revealing how you have gone their in your own life. Not just in those big events where everyone knows it is hard, but also in those little encounters of everyday that God is speaking to you. May you experience God’s complete pleasure in you as you write. You have something significant to say.
        Blessings,
        Kevin

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